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"As I thought I understood it, then a new alien species would arrive and the whole thing would start again."David M. Harper, from the Department of Biology at the University of Leicester, is doing research at Lake Naivasha in Kenya for 30 years now. As an ecologist, he tried to understand the straight forward limnology of the lake. "And then I realised after about three or four years that the reason that the lake was functioning unpredictably was because it was full of alien species."
What he learnt during this time reveals a lot what science is about. Simple explanations may be right for simple problems. But when it comes to ecological dynamics being influenced by humans and the other way around there is no such thing as simplicity. Therefore a more comprehensive approach is needed than a single discipline can offer.
That is why Mr. Harper's work is an invaluable contribution to the understanding of the endogenous functioning of the system. But how to deal with external shocks, changes in governing institutions or the drastic increase in population? What are the consequences for the demand towards the lake? Can illegal water abstraction be prohibited by the existing institutions?

This is part 2 of a series of 3 videos.
Part 1: Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards on how to include small holders into carbon trade
Part 3: Solutions to help people improve their situation, Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards discuss

Worldbank sets a minimum amount of 2 Mio. € for carbon trade. That avoids small scale farmers from taking advantage of this trading scheme. Hear about the ideas of Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Brown and Paul Richards!
This is part 1 of a series of videos.
Part 2: "What you're calling marginal is political opposition" Keynote Discussion
Part 3: Solutions to help people improve their situation, Rattan Lal, Sir Gordon Conway and Paul Richards discuss

Just one day before the Tropentag 2011 conference in Bonn, Prof. Dr. Asch of the University of Hohenheim and Chair of ATSAF, pointed out his main ambitions for this year's conference. He encourages especially the opportunities for young scientists to get in touch with colleagues, get feedback on their research and find out about jobs.

Food prices are 36% above the levels of a year ago and remain close to the 2008 peak, driven in part by higher fuel costs connected to instability in the Middle East and North Africa. With current double digit food price inflation in crisis-striken Egypt and Syria, a major World Bank report shows wheat, maize and soya costs have soared, requiring a relaxation of grain export controls and a rethink on biofuels.
"Already 44 million people have fallen into poverty since June 2010. If the food price index rises by just another 10% we estimate another 10 million people that fall into extreme poverty. And a 30% increase would add 34 million more people to the world's poor, who now number 1,2 billion" said World Bank President Robert Zoellick while presenting the World Bank's Food Price Watch last month.
Eager to capitalise on rising food and energy prices or shore-up their own country's food security, foreign investors are pouring in to lease or buy huge tracts of cheap land that governments have cleared of people in the developing world. This high-stakes global land rush is essentialy a third wave of outsourcing and is taking place in the largest recipient countries of humanitarian food and development assistance. From Ethiopia's lowlands to the hilltops of Madagascar, vast tracts of farmland and forests are being gobbled up by foreign investors creating super-sized farms.